The Procrastinators Book Club discussion

Welcome to the Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection Buddy Read Discussion thread! This thread officially opens on July 24th and anyone can join at any time. Please keep in mind that spoilers are allowed in this thread but only up to the group's current reading place. Do not spoil the book if you've read further than the group. Any extra days can be used to catch up!

Each day we will be reading by chapters or page numbers. Page numbers are an approximation based on the hardcover or paperback that is the default on Goodreads. The suggested Buddy Read discussion schedule is as follows:

Week of 07/24
July 24: Pages 1-30
July 25: Pages 31-60
July 26: Pages 61-90
July 27: Pages 91-120

Week of 07/14
July 28: Pages 121-150
July 29: Pages 151-180
July 30: Pages 181-end


PARTICIPANTS
~ Leslie
~ Katie

I definitely forgot that we were starting this! I am only about 40 pages in. I was really touched with the first mention of Henry. The photo just about broke me. So sad to think how extreme the devastation of TB can be on the human body. I'm really interested to see how John Green will tie things together. Kind of love that he's moving into a nonfiction space.

Sorry, I got behind with this - I was planning to get caught up on Monday when I was in the hospital (yeah I know reading about tuberculosis while in the hospital is a little morbid), but just didn't have the mindset, and yesterday I slept a good portion of the day away recovering. So I am going to try to get caught up and finish it today.
I got through chapter 7 earlier this week. I agree, @Katie, the story of Henry is both heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time and I want to find out where Green goes with it. You can tell he inspired and impacted Green immensely. The history of the romanticism of the disease was very interesting to me, and it's kind of disturbing to think that this is where some of our beauty standards that even exist today are derived from.

I just picked up from Chapter 7 today! There's a chapter in your future about placing morality on illness, particularly TB. I thought it was fascinating.

I finished a different audiobook and my hold for this one came through, so I feel like I can zoom through the rest of it.

Well I am again feeling ironic as I sit here reading this while waiting in the ER for test results trying to figure out why I am having chest pain (at least I know it’s not TB). I’m at the Henry chapter (16) and I just know this will not end well for him.
The access and cost issues just tick me off. So much prevention and help available if some folks weren’t so greedy.

I see you've already rated it so I know you finished...
HENRY LIVESSSSS

I was so scared it would be a tragic ending. It's still a tragic story, with no reason for his suffering the way he did for so long, but at least now he is alive and is thriving.

I really enjoyed how the book mixed Henry's story with more broad commentary on the effect of TB on our society. One of the ending chapters that really made me mad was the discussion on price gouging for pharmaceuticals. I've known for a long time that companies make medications cost way more than they need to just because they can, to make as much profit as possible, but it really disgusts me.

I also felt the same joy knowing that Henry lives. And yes, the greed of some of these companies disgusts me too. I am just glad that there have been people along the way that have fought to get better access.
As I was sitting in the hospital last night, both my ER doctor and one of the nurses separately asked how I liked it. My poor mom was having to listen to me telling her different things from the book (I think the Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle bits interested her the most given she is a librarian). The nurse was actually about the same place I was when I was in the room - she had some of the same observations and feelings, etc. as I did, so we ended up feeding into each others' thoughts.
I actually rated the book as a 4.5 (goodreads, please get fractional rating capabilities).